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11:15 am it was in the
mid thirties when Will got up @ 8:00 am and after yesterday,
traveling in the cold was the last thing we wanted to do today so we
decided to wait until it warmed up a bit before we headed out. It is
now 50F so it is a bit chilly, but nothing like yesterday ...
 At
least the sun is shining and it is not snowing. Before we left
we added a bit of T-Case Oil which brought back many memories from
last years trip.
11:50 am ... Mile 746
We've got the OD engaged and we're cruising down a mountain at 60
mph. I don't know if you've ever been in a 1948 Willys doing 60 mph
down a mountain but I gotta tell ya, to say it is an adrenaline rush
is an understatement. We've got "Whiskey in the Jar" by Metallica
blaring on the ipod and a high from the gas fumes so life is really
good right now. Since we may have long stretches between gas
stations today we've got all 3 gas cans topped "up" and the 2 in the
back of the Jeep leak a bit so the fumes blow right to the front
where we sit. We figured this is better than having the cans in the
trailer and have all of our clothes and gear smelling like gas for
the rest of the trip. We may soon change our minds though. Aside
from the nasty fumes, it cost us $673.89 to fill the damn things up!
We are considering stealing the AZ hippies strategy and beg for gas
money at rest stops.
.
We thought it would be a good time to remind everyone why we are
doing this journey (aside from the fact that it is a kick-ass
adventure of a lifetime that we will never forget). When we decided
to take the trip last year the plan was to meet with Nick, drive the
Jeep to AZ and call it a day. By the time we met with Nick our story
was beginning to take on a life of its own and for that month (May,
07) our website received 5 million visits. We figured that since we
were getting that many visitors why not try and do something with it
so we asked Nick if there was anything he would like us to promote.
Nick told us that anything we can do to help the wounded soldiers
returning from battle would be great. We have since joined forces
with the Wounded Warrior Project and we are doing what we can
to help promote their cause. We would sincerely appreciate if
everyone following our journey would do the same and either help
spread the word or make a donation of some sort.
Meeting with Nick truly
was a life altering experience for both of us and we are pleased to
hear that he is once again following this years trip through the
internet. Thanks again Nick for everything that you have done for us
and for everyone else that enjoys everyday freedom. We would
also like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of the soldiers
that are currently away from their friends and families doing what
they have to do rather than what they want to do.
12:30 pm ... Mile 780
Will just discovered that we can engage and disengage the OD on the
fly as long as the tranny is in neutral and the rpm's are low. Life
is good. The downside is that it is still pretty cold and our gas
fume high has turned into headaches. Oh well, as long as we are
moving forward we won't complain too much.
12:58 pm ... Mile 800 ... Yippy-skippy
Apparently I was full of shit yesterday when I said "what goes up
must come down". It feels like we've been climbing for 2 days
straight. We are 6 miles to Eureka, NV at this point and we should
be there by nightfall if we're lucky!
 We
stopped for gas, gloves, oil, coffee and garbage bags for the gas
cans so we can try to and reduce the fumes. It is a bitch to type on
my blackberry with gloves on but at least my hands are warm.
3:00 pm ... Mile 851
We stopped for a "Cigar" and a pee and right after we stopped the
Jeep there was a loud vibrating boom and we wondered what the hell
was going on. We heard jets flying around and we then realized
that we are near a military test site and what we heard was the
sonic boom of a jet. Very cool.
3:45 pm ... Mile 875
We made it to Austin, NV and there are 3 shit motels to choose from.
We are sitting in a parking lot debating on what to do. Fallon is
110 mph which in these hills will take us 3+ hours.
4:15 ... Mile 880
We smell smoke...We see smoke...Oh shit, we're on fire! We pulled
over as quick as we could, popped the smoke-filled hood...expecting
the gas from the leaky carb to ignite any second. It turns out that
one of the signal light wires had come loose with a bare wire arc
welding against the ground wire from the
battery. Just then a state trooper
pulled behind us and asked if we were ok. Will was afraid that we
had burnt out the starter because it was smoking when we opened the
hood. We tried starting her and sure enough, nothing. We contacted
our mechanical support team (Glade from Napa) and he suggested that
we could get it going if we push started it. So sure enough the 3 of
us (including the Trooper) gave it a push-start and by 4:15 we are
once again on the road to Fallon, NV hoping we don't stall before we
get there.
5:05 ... Mile 913
Its getting hungry out. we hope that there is a Mexican restaurant
across from the hotel in Fallon. Hell, we hope that Fallon even has
a hotel let alone a restaurant
 5:15
... Mile 916
We just got the hell beat out of us
by the soft top. The pole supporting the top just broke so we
stopped and did a Red Green/MacGiver trail fix using some zip ties,
tape and a chunk of aluminum that was in the ditch.
5:30 ... Mile 925
We stopped to fix the top again. A few feet of rope should to the
trick for the next few thousand miles.
It is starting to feel like we've just gone 925 miles in an old Jeep
Willys. Getting in is starting to get a little more painful each
time. Our asses are numb, legs aching, lips chapped, faces
wind-burned and backs hurting but at least we finally got down to a
sane elevation (4,800 ft) and the temp is up to the high 60's, which
is tropical to us right now, we even took our new gloves off...break
out the sun screen. We just passed a tree with hundreds of pairs of
shoes hanging from it. What the hell? If we weren't so anxious to
get to Fallon we would have stopped and done some shopping.
6:15 pm ... Mile 961
We hit a new land speed record of 72.2 mph going down a long
straight hill. What a rush!
 6:35
... Mile 972
We are 13 miles from Fallon and pretty much out of gas. Since we are
starterless, the last thing we want to do is run out of gas so we
pulled over and threw a jerry can in her.
We are not far from "Area 51" and a few Air Force Bases so we have
been watching Fighter Planes cruising around us for the last while.
Very cool!
 7:00
pm ... Mile 986
We made it to Fallon! We grabbed the first Best Western we came
across, checked in, unloaded our gear and got to taking out the
starter before the sun goes down. We are sore, tired and hungry and
the last thing we want to do is work on the Jeep.
 8:00
pm
We (Will) took out the starter and we walked to Auto Zone (Napa was
closed) to see if they happen to have a starter for the Willys. They
didn't even have "Willys" in the system let alone a starter. We are
now at Taco Bell having dinner and our plan is to update the site
after this, have a cigar and go to bed. Hopefully tomorrow morning
we can find a starter or someone that can rebuild ours. This is a
pretty small town so we could have a challenge finding one.
TOTAL MILES
TRAVELED TODAY: 258 miles (new record)
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